 Parzival  | 09 Jun 2018 12:45 p.m. PST |
Due to a wild recipe of party splitting, foolhardiness, over bold action and way too much good luck for the PCs, the Big Bad of my Teen Library adventure has been sucker punched to death without even getting off one action.
My bad for making him too wimpy, but I didn't want a TPK in an intro adventure either. (But I also didn't realize quite how wimpy he was. Next time, I'm doubling his HP.) All that aside, my problem is that only two of the PCs even were in the fight! The others were off doing some interesting (if non-critical exploring). Which means that the big climatic adventure ending has already happened. Which means that's what's left, instead of being a dramatic build up, will end up as an un-dramatic let down. Current situation:
The kidnap victim is still missing. The purpose of the kidnapping is still unknown, as is The Big Plot.
The PCs have (unknowingly) slain the Big Bad, and the body disappeared, crumbling into dust.
One PC carries the Big Bad's chief magical item, which is Evil in its very nature. The PC, being of Neutral alignment, is the only party member who can carry it. A wizard, he's experimented with it, and raised four zombies, which were subsequently dispatched by a Lawful Good party member on principle. The wizard, however, was arguing for their usefulness (and was actually playing the part of Neutral magic-obsessed wizard quite well). He does not, however, understand the nature of this object. So, possible solutions:
As the players have no clue this guy was The Big Bad, I could: A.) let him have been a lieutenant, and create a new version of the Big Bad (with more chance of survival at least for a few rounds, darn it). B.) Bring him back as some sort of more powerful undead version. C.) Use the object to influence the wizard into carrying out the Big Plot (risks being a railroad of that player). D.) Leave things the way they are, and just let the adventure wind down. I'd welcome any thoughts or alternative suggestions! |
 Herkybird | 09 Jun 2018 1:01 p.m. PST |
The death of Big Bad was an illusion, one of several he has set up – think of Voldemort in Harry Potter splitting his soul into Horcruxes as an example? |
| YogiBearMinis | 09 Jun 2018 2:08 p.m. PST |
Every Big Bad has either or both a henchman or a rival (or one who is both). With the Big Bad dead, just have that Supporting Bad step up to take his place, perhaps utilizing artifacts or powers that the Big Bad did not get to use. Maybe the Supporting Bad has the additional "quest" or "scheme" to relieve the PC of Big Bad's chief artifact he took. |
| manyslayer | 09 Jun 2018 2:21 p.m. PST |
Have the big bad use look-a-likes, ilusions, and trickery so that this becomes a thing for the badie. After the battle have some reveal that this was another trick. Don't do it too often, though, or it will just lead to player frustration. |
 Saber6  | 09 Jun 2018 3:12 p.m. PST |
"it's just a flesh wound" |
| saltflats1929 | 09 Jun 2018 4:15 p.m. PST |
Agree with Herky: what the party killed was an "illusion/humunculus/clone/created servant" etc. |
| darthfozzywig | 09 Jun 2018 6:53 p.m. PST |
Sometimes the enemy dies hard, sometimes not. Don't rob your players of success or failure and let the dice fall as they may. |
| USAFpilot | 09 Jun 2018 8:07 p.m. PST |
There is always something bigger and meaner out there. Maybe the Big Bad was just a lieutenant of the real BIG BAD. The players don't know everything the DM knows; sounds like you are on the right track. Tweak your story line as necessary. As a Prussia general once said, no plan survives contact with the enemy. |
| Bashytubits | 09 Jun 2018 9:19 p.m. PST |
Just give him an evil twin and give him more hp and a bloody minded vengeance to avenge his sucker punched dead twin bro. |
| langobard | 10 Jun 2018 1:27 a.m. PST |
Another vote for allowing a lieutenant to seize his/her chance. After all, Sauron was a wimp while Morgorth was in charge, but did pretty well (?) when given a chance :-) |
| Giles the Zog | 10 Jun 2018 4:44 a.m. PST |
Combination of (a) and (c). At the climax of my mate's uni campaign, our wizard went bad on us just as the demon arrived and we were fighting him (the demon). The good PC's got a beating, but the demon ate the bad wizard and  ed off to locations unknown. |
| madcam2us | 10 Jun 2018 6:23 a.m. PST |
None of the above.. The big bad "guy" was NEVER the one in charge
… it was ALWAYS the item!!! Play it the item is in charge… Slowly change the wizards personality as he succumbs to the powers of the item… Madcam. |
| madcam2us | 10 Jun 2018 6:25 a.m. PST |
The kidnapping victim is the only one that has discovered the true meaning behind the power… perhaps two great powers are at play.. both are inhabiting hosts.. one the item, the other the kidnapping victim… each always struggling to achieve dominance… currently the "item" holds the upper hand, but now the party has entered the picture.. Perhaps those exploring outside of the "main" fight discovered the next clue… Madcam |
| Roderick Robertson | 10 Jun 2018 8:39 a.m. PST |
Summon Bigger Bad. How many times, in comics, TV, movies, etc. has the "Bad Guy" turned out to be a pawn or minion of a Bigger Bad? The players will understand intuitively if something nastier shows up. It's almost pre-programmed into the human race. Beowulf had this happen with Grendel and his Mom, so you can point to the classics. Plus, this gives you time to evaluate where you went wrong with the first big bad – did they sneak up on it? Could it use some minions of it's own in the final fight to soak off some attacks? Was it susceptible to a magical effect? You don't want to plug *all* the holes in the final Boss Battle – as you noted, a TPK is no fun. But obscure holes in the defense are O)K – they may ju8st have to do a little research, or get lucky, or you can drop a hint if you need to. Check out link for ideas… |
| Herkybird | 10 Jun 2018 9:19 a.m. PST |
Maybe Big Bad was an ordinary character, but was possessed by a seriously bad demonic being.
Killing BB only resulted in the demon being being thrown out, stunned, for a while, until he can inhabit a new minion… |
| Parzival | 10 Jun 2018 11:33 a.m. PST |
A lot of these are actually falling in line with my plot (which, of course, involves necromancy and possession by a long-forgotten evil god of undeath). There's also a bit of humor, as the Big Bad was/is a relatively low powered individual-- but long forgotten evil gods have to take their links to the realm of Man wherever they can find them. |
| Palewarrior | 10 Jun 2018 1:27 p.m. PST |
If the PC's where introduced to the adventure by a Big Good Guy, have him turn out to be the Big Bad Guy. Perhaps he just needs the item they now have, to complete a apocalyptic spell or something…;) |
 Jeff Ewing | 10 Jun 2018 4:33 p.m. PST |
Whichever you decide, if your players are the least bit literary, consider foreshadowing the reveal with plot leitmotifs. For example, if you decide the Big Bad was in fact a mini-boss, you might have the PCs be invited to a puppet show in town. Later, a marionette salesman might try to sell them a figure that resembles the mini-boss. This lets them guess that there might be someone else "pulling the strngs." If you decide that the Big Bad was an illusion, you might introduce mirages, mirrors or masks into the plot. And so forth… |
